“We’ve been hoarding – storing for..for..against some unknown disaster…”
“Failure to meet your quota is a disaster, organic.“
A new arc starts now: keep reading for a review of Transformers: Galaxies #5.
(Minor spoilers below.)
This story very specifically looks at the Transformers’ early relations with organic creatures, which really helps to widen the world they live in. I don’t exactly need humans in my Transformers stories (the less humans the better if I’m honest) but there’s something fascinating to me about how Transformers view organic creatures, I never get tired of their opinions. (I guess that’s what I want: more of Transformers talking about organics, but not necessarily more interaction with them?)
I love how this story starts with a huge nod and wink at the fact that the Cliffjumper toys were often repaints of the Bumblebee toys. Cliffjumper’s already got an inferiority complex because he’s always being mistaken for the much-more-popular Bee, but now he’s on a planet of people who practically worship Bumblebee and they can’t see color? Poor CJ.
I love how both he and Deathsaurus are written in this story. Cliffjumper’s totally hapless, but very well meaning (in “modern day” stories he jumps into battle without looking, but since these stories are much further back in the Transformers’ timeline, he’s still a little hesitant.)
Deathsaurus is, of course, a jerk. An overconfident, arrogant, entitled, overbearing, extremely dangerous jerk. And he looks amazing.
I’ve been enjoying all the artwork in this new incarnation of Transformers, both in the regular books and in the Galaxies series, so it’s saying something when I say I am so glad to see Alex Milne on a book again! Lordy I’ve missed his art, and everything looks fantastic. His lines with Josh Perez’s colors just jump out at you. I particularly like any of the panels with fire, like the page of Cliffjumper looking up at the aliens’ habitat, or the flames coming out of Deathsaurus’ mouth as he yells “IT’S A CATASTROPHE.” That panel in particular, wow, the detail is really impressive.
The G1 style of all the characters has always been one of my favorite parts of Milne’s work, everybody looks so much like the original cartoon, except better. (The faces especially, I love the design of Deathsaurus’s face on the last page.) But the backgrounds in this issue are really well done too. There’s a double-page spread you can see in the preview images below, it’s so meticulous, and the scale of it is….I’m running out of words for impressive aren’t I? Seems to happen every time I talk about Alex Milne’s work. (I regret nothing!)